GOP lawmaker: Send ground troops

Rep. Matt Salmon on Monday called on the White House to send ground troops to fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee member, appearing on MSNBC, took issue with President Barack Obama’s repeated refrain that there will be no boots on the ground in the Middle East.

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“Why don’t we be straight with the American people? There are boots on the ground,” the Arizona Republican said. “You may not want to call them boots on the ground, but the people that are there — the over 1,000 of our troops that are already there right now — their families actually consider them to be boots on the ground.”

In his address to the nation last week, Obama announced he would be sending an additional 475 troops into Iraq, in addition to the more than 1,000 military personnel already in the country.

When asked specifically about sending in combat troops — as opposed to troops providing diplomatic security or supporting airstrikes — Salmon said Congress should authorize ground troops in the region.

“I think ultimately, it is going to take some ground troops, absolutely,” he said.

Salmon’s call for ground troops contrasts with many lawmakers who have been reluctant to risk American lives and draw the U.S. into another messy and complex conflict, particularly in Syria, where rebel forces continue to fight President Bashar Assad in the country’s civil war.

But the congressman took a strong tone on Monday, urging the U.S. to take stronger measures against ISIL, the group that has swept across much of northern and central Iraq and has recently beheaded two American journalists.

“We’re at war with these guys,” he said. “Let’s quit candy-coating it and let’s go in with everything that we’ve got and finish it this time.”